Crossed wires lose firm its phone number
Last updated 05:39, Friday, 17 October 2008
A REPAIRMAN has been cut off from his customers because of a telephone line blunder.
David McCluskey, who runs a boiler repair firm from his home at Low Plains, Penton, near Longtown, had a personal and a business phone number operating on his landline.
But when his line was cut, he was told by telecommunications giants BT his business number could not be retrieved because this service was no longer provided.
Mr McCluskey said the telephone number for Avro Property Services was his main point of contact with customers and this was displayed on his van, on adverts and in phonebooks.
He said he had not been approached with any new jobs in over a week because of the mix-up.
Mr McCluskey added that most small businesses were struggling to keep afloat due to the economic crisis and said that this could not have come at a worse time.
“I have spent a lot of money advertising the number.
“I run a one-man business and it is the sort of arrangement where regular customers will call me once a year for a service.
“They will now get a message when they call my business line telling them that the number is no longer is use. So people will call elsewhere.
“I am currently being kept going by jobs I got before this happened but I will soon have finished them.”
Mr McCluskey said he received a letter from BT a month ago informing him his line would be cut because he had changed providers.
When he called to inform them this was not the case he was told there had been a mix-up and that it would be sorted out, he said.
A few weeks later he discovered his service had been cancelled.
And following another call to BT he says he had been told that his home number will be reinstated but that his business number has been lost.
He said: “I was told I will not get my business number back because BT no longer provides that service. I can’t believe this has happened.
“I haven’t done anything wrong. This is a disgusting way to treat someone.”
Mr McCluskey is currently using his home number – 01228 577233 – as a contact for his business.
A spokeswoman from BT was unable to comment on the individual case but added: “BT is investigating what has happened and seeking to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”
